Decisions and Battles
by Ayeliyn
Summary: The Gurhal System experienced peace for some time, until remnant SEED showed up. Now the task is to save the system.. but how many times will danger come to destroy it before it is truly safe? Now in the Portable 2 Era. Rated T for language, some semi-nudity, and other T-rated stuff.
1. The Official Guardian

_**Author's Note:  
**_Hello and welcome to my new fanfic that was inspired by boredom! ..And stress. Anyway, I've decided to try and write a fully-fledged Phantasy Star Portable fanfic! -from all the timelines since I don't own Universe or Ambitions (but I may watch a walkthrough of them soon!). It may be long, and it may be weird. Also, it's spoilery because it has alllll the good ending options.. and it's a bit shippy too.. whoops.

_**Disclaimer: **_I don't own Phantasy Star. If I did, you'd have the option to date whoever the hell you wanted. INCLUDING THE BAD GUYS BECAUSE SOME PEOPLE LIKE THAT. Nerds.

* * *

The alarm clock buzzer went off. Smacking her hand down on it, the bundle in the blankets curled back up and dozed off until it went off again. Groaning, she smacked her hand down on the alarm clock, knocking it off and breaking it this time. The crash made her jump, blankets coming off as she looked around and then to the alarm clock.

_Great. I broke it. Go me._ She sighed, picking up the pieces before throwing them away. Walking over to take a shower, she chose some clothes from the room that wasn't at all complex and easy to pull on. After said shower and getting dressed, the girl left her temporary quarters.

Walking to the familiar main centre of the Guardians Colony, it was a surprise to see Laia there, waiting for her. The Beast turned to look at her, a smile crossing her face.. or was it?

"Hey, you're here, Senna." Laia said. Senna rubbed the back of her head, glancing to the ceiling and then back at her. "You're about a half hour late, though. What were you doing?"

"Trying to outsleep my alarm clock." Senna said with a sheepish smile on her face, her hand still on the back of her head as she stood there, waiting for Laia to reprimand her for trying to outsleep her alarm clock again. Instead, Laia gave a laugh and gestured at Senna to follow her.

"We're going to the Guardians Headquarters, since you're going to need your license. Congratulations on becoming a full-fledged Guardian." Senna blushed, lowering her gaze as she followed after Laia, to the top floor where Headquarters was. The doors opened, and the two went inside. Senna glanced about as they headed to the counter.

"Welcome to the Guardians, protecting the future of Gurhal!" The receptionist, Mina, said. Noticing that Senna was there, she gave a warm smile and spoke to her.

"Congratulations on completing your training." Senna's gaze lowered back and she waved a hand. It was really nothing. After giving the normal speech included with her becoming a Guardian, Mina handed Senna a card. Taking it, Senna looked it over. She blinked a couple times, and looked up to Mina.

"That's your official Guardians license. Be sure not to lose it." Mina advised, which had Senna stowing it away in her pocket. She faded out a bit, listening to something else other than Mina talking about what she'd be able to do now. Blinking at the word 'Partner', she looked from Laia to Mina.

"Laia?" She asked, honestly confused. Both Mina and Laia burst out laughing. It was obvious Senna wasn't paying attention, and she blushed in embarrassment.

"No, I'm just an instructor. I think Mina means her." Laia nodded towards the CAST, who was standing apprehensively at the counter. The CAST bowed and Senna tilted her head to the left. She was a cute CAST, but.. what was with the bunny ear assemble? Was she supposed to be a bunny-like CAST?

"It's nice to meet you. I am Vivienne. I completed basic training a few days ago. I look forward to working with you." The CAST said, in a sweet voice with the familiar metallic twang. Senna blinked a couple times before holding out her hand to the other.

"I'm.. Senna. It's nice to meet you, too." She said, giving a smile. Vivienne looked at her hand.

"This is a handshake, right? It indicates no hostility, and an expectation of trust."

She was sure observant for someone who just completed basic training. The two shook hands, and Senna withdrew hers, leaning back just a slight tad. A hand running through her dark red hair, she looked from Laia to Vivienne, who were both also engaging in a handshake. Afterwards, the two of them gave Senna their partner cards.

"We should proceed to the mission area." Vivienne said. Laia nodded in agreement, and looked at Senna, who was rocking back and forth on her heels, staring at the ceiling again. Snapping her fingers under Senna's nose, she shocked the new Guardian back to reality..

And watched her land on her butt, a laugh coming from her as she stood back up.

"Hey! No spacing out. This is serious. We should hurry up and get to the Linear Line platform. The next train to the mission area should be leaving soon." Laia pointed out. Senna nodded.

"Right. And I'm leading this time?" She asked, in which she got a smack upside the head.

"Idiot. Of course you are. This is your first official mission. You'll do the leading." Senna gave a sheepish smile, blushing from embarrassment again, and headed off toward the Linear Line platform, with Laia and Vivienne on her heels.

* * *

Upon arriving, the area looked damaged beyond repair. Senna held back a gasp and shook her head, looking at Vivienne.

"It looks like the facility has taken damage. It must be the work of the guard machines." She said. _Taken damage?_ This part looked completely demolished. Or maybe she was spacing out again and imagining it was completely demolished. As a test, Senna checked the wall. Nope, demolished. Laia and Vivienne were talking about it, and Senna was walking on ahead.

"Hey! Where are you going?!" Laia asked. "You haven't been listening, have you?"

"We're supposed to be doing something here. If the machines are making everything go kaboomey, then we have to stop them.. right?" Senna continued forward, making Laia and Vivienne chase after her.

"Looking into the records, it says that you're a very spontaneous person, Senna. Is that true?" Vivienne asked as some Pannon appeared, prompting the three to draw their weapons and start on the assault. Senna, kneeling down beside Vivienne and taking aim, shot down a Pannon before it got too close.

"Yeah. I act before I think. Gets me into trouble sometimes." Senna replied. "But don't worry, Vivienne. You're in safe hands. I won't let my partner get scuffed up by some cruddy monsters."

Vivienne gave Senna a smile, and the three of them ran through the area, encountering many different monsters and the same guard machines. On the way to the second block, Vivienne did a scan.

"It seems that there's a signal that's being sent. It's very faint, but perhaps it's what is causing the guard machines to go haywire." Vivienne said, after a few minutes. Laia thumped her on the back.

"Good job! I'll go check out the control panel. You two keep going on ahead. I'll catch up." She said, taking off in another direction. Senna swapped out her rifle for her sword, feeling the familiar photon tingle in her hands as the sword appeared in her right hand, and the gun appeared in her left. Clutching both tightly, without setting off the gun, Senna took off with Vivienne close behind.

Clearing out the second block wasn't as hard as clearing out the first. Senna made sure Vivienne was okay as they proceeded onwards.

"Senna, she looks to be a private citizen." Vivienne pointed towards a woman with a bobcut that covered one of her eyes. her clothes were mainly black with some purple in it. Senna blinked, inclining her head. Private citizen? Then why was she here? ..Something didn't feel right.

"Vivienne, something seems off about this. Detain her, okay?" Senna said. Vivienne looked over at the woman and then to Senna.

"You want me to detain her before first identifying who she is?" Vivienne asked. Senna gave a nod, and Vivienne looked a little put out. "I suppose, in this situation, it makes sense."

The CAST ran up to her, with Senna at her heels. "You there, halt! You are a person of interest, so we will have to detain you." The woman turned to Vivienne, a smirk on her face.

"As well you should. I'm going to have to decline, though." The woman said, still smirking. Vivienne looked very confused. It was like she didn't know what to do when someone said that.

"This is a peculiar conversation pattern I have not yet encountered." Senna facepalmed so hard she thought she'd knock herself out and walked over to the two.

"All right, you're going with us to Headquarters for questioning." She went to grab the woman, but she moved out of the way quickly like Senna was moving too slow. The woman grinned, and threw a smoke bomb before disappearing. Senna coughed, waving her arm and putting her shirt over her nose to filter out the smoke. Laia came running up once the smoke cleared, an intense look on her face.

"What happened?!" She asked. Senna tried to speak but ended up coughing due to the

smoke that had entered her airways, which left Vivienne to answer Laia's question.

"We attempted to apprehend the suspect, but she got away." Vivienne looked quite upset about this. Once Senna stopped having a coughing fit, she looked up to Laia and Vivienne. The look in her eyes told Laia they were telling the truth, so the Beast harrumphed and gestured at them to continue forward.

A strange monster appeared once they reached the fourth block, and Vivienne recoiled as Senna made sure her rifle was full of energy before looking at the monster through a scope. Laia folded her arms against her chest.

"What is that?" Vivienne asked.

"It's a Dilla Griena," Laia replied, "This must be what's making all the machines go haywire. We should defeat it as soon as possible."

Senna took the front as Laia and Vivienne summoned their weapons. It was a long, and perilous fight against the Dela Grinna but, finally, it died out afterwards. Once it was gone, the three of them breathed a sigh of relief, Senna moreso than the other two.

"So, what do you think of your partner, Vivienne?" Laia asked.

"I don't think she even needs one! Didn't you see how she fought? Amazing!" Senna replied before Vivienne could speak. Laia bonked Senna over the head, and Senna rubbed where Laia had hit while giving a sheepish smile.

"Idiot. I was just complimenting her. Her reaction time's still too slow for her to be without a partner," Laia remarked.

"But still, I am thankful for the evaluation," Vivienne seemed like it, too, with a smile on her face. "Even though I still have a long way to go, Senna seems to think really highly of me."

"You're really nothing like a CAST should be.. You seem more organic," Laia pointed out. If Vivienne could, she would've blushed at that. Senna rolled her eyes and patted Vivienne on the back.

"Is that.. bad?" Vivienne asked, looking to Laia for confirmation.

"No, it's not bad. We'd better head back to Headquarters and give our report to Headmaster Nav." With that, Laia lead them back to headquarters. It wasn't as hectic on the way back, so they were able to talk casually among themselves.

"Laia trained me for three months. I lived in temporary quarters while training with her," Senna said. Vivienne looked quite confused on that.

"Then, if I am to understand this correctly.. this means you are now homeless?" Vivienne asked. "Since it was only temporary.."

"No, I'll be getting my own quarters. It's part of the reason why I decided to join the Guardians," Senna replied, stretching a bit as they walked. Laia took the two to the conference room. Looking around, Senna noticed it was different from the rooms she was used to in the Colony. Strange, too.

"Headmaster? Headmaster Nav?" Laia called once they were inside the room. She paused for a moment, then shrugged. "Huh. Guess he's not here."

"I'm here, I'm here!" A voice said from nowhere. Laia jumped and facepalmed.

"Argh! Why don't I ever learn?! Vivienne, Senna! Watch your asses!" Senna looked around, seeing an old CAST and turned to face him, hands clamping over her buttocks with a slightly scared look on her face. Vivienne looked lost, and very confused.

"Awwh, I'm not gonna do anything. I'll be good..." The old CAST said. Senna slowly released her buttocks and stared straight at him. What a strange CAST. However, she was a bit more intrigued with the room itself instead of the CAST. Glancing around, she looked at everything that the room had to offer. Laia had to grab her around the waist and plant her right next to Vivienne since she was starting to wander off and explore.

"Headmaster Lucaim Nav, correct?" Vivienne asked once Senna was placed beside her. The old CAST probably smiled, but Senna couldn't tell through his false hair.. or was it false hair? She stared, despite it being impolite, until he turned to address her personally.

"I heard that you managed to live through Laia's harsh training," He said. Senna raised a hand.

"Thaaaaaaaat's because it wasn't harsh at all!" She said, waving the hand a little before putting it down. "I mean, it was light compared to home life, so I got through it okay!" It looked like Laia was about to laugh, and Vivienne was just utterly confused. She started to wander off again after Headmaster Nav addressed Vivienne. She'd only gotten about halfway around the room when Laia grabbed her around the waist again and carried her back over, setting her down.

"Stop wandering off. I know this is new for you, but you'll have plenty of time to look around later. This is important!" She scolded. Senna rubbed the back of her head.

Headmaster Nav explained that they were upping security on the Colony, and that it was possible that someone with a grudge against the GUARDIANS had done it or someone who was against using native creatures for medical development. Senna looked shocked, and appalled. Her first day on the job, and she'd encountered a terrorist plot. Vivienne had logged some things about the terrorist that Senna didn't pay too much attention to. Once again, Headmaster Nav addressed her and decided to tell her what her work would entail.

"Your most urgent task will be taking care of the free missions that are available at the mission counter," He said. Senna nodded.

"Free missions. Got it. Urgent and to take care of," She noted.

"Until the investigation I mentioned earlier is complete, hone your skills with those free missions. When a new special mission is ready, Mina from reception will get a hold of you. Then, I'll explain things in detail. You got it?" Senna nodded. "Then we're done here for today. I'm counting on you."

"Count away, sir!" Senna gave him a salute before the three of them left the conference room.

* * *

Vivienne said something about wanting to see the parts shop, so she left Laia and Senna on their own. Senna was just about to head to the mission counter to take on a free mission when Laia grabbed her arm.

"Hey, I need to talk to you for a minute," Laia said. Senna stopped and turned to face her. "You've got your own room now. Nothing like those temporary quarters you were living in. Your stuff's been moved to that room, so you should go take a look. I think your new buddy in your room would want to meet you."

"New buddy?" Senna blinked. "All right, Laia.. "

"I'm gonna head off now, so keep up the good work. Contact me if you want to go on a mission together." Laia let Senna go and walked off back to headquarters. Senna frowned a bit before giving a shrug and heading down to the rooms where each official Guardian lived.

"Let's see.. This one says 'Ethan Waber'. Not mine.. The room next to it is 'Tonnio Rhima'. Still not mine." She sighed, continuing onward through the already-taken rooms. "This one says 'Hyuga Ryght'. Still not mine.. Oh! This one right next to Hyuga's says 'Senna Eiselstein'! I found my room! ..Huh, the one next to mine says 'Maya Shidow'. Weird."

Upon entering, she looked around. There were a few boxes in the room. Senna pulled one to her and opened it with eagerness. It was her stuff! Well, what she could take with her to the Colony, anyhow. With happiness in her eyes, she started to put stuff where she wanted it to go. Decorating her own room how she wanted it.. she'd never had this much fun before.

"Welcome home," A voice said just as Senna fixed up her bed and put a stuffed animal near the pillow. Turning around, she looked around for a moment before looking down. A girl with violet hair and red eyes was there.. but she had the same sort of metallic-like voice that Headmaster Nav and Vivienne had. Not to mention she was wearing a really cute dress.

"It's nice to meet you. I am your Partner Machine," The girl said, "I will be handling your schedule and the important mission information you aquire. Allow me to explain the features of your room."

"Okay." So Senna sat on her bed and let her Partner Machine talk about everything she could do in her room. There was a bathroom, a shower, a dressing room, a laundry mechanism, a Visiphone (which Senna took much glee in messing with before she stopped herself from looking up information that might incriminate someone), a bed.. she could decorate this room how she wished, which she had already done and put the boxes in the alcove available until she knew what to do with them. There was also a storage, which Senna peeked into before withdrawing.

"If there is anything you wish to know, please feel free to ask me any time." The girl said.

"Okay.. Mia." Senna gave a smile. "I need to get going. I'll be back!"

* * *

"Welcome back, Senna," Vivienne said as Senna arrived back from her room. "Our last mission was really something, wasn't it?"

"Yeah.. Think of it.. Terrorists, and we got a first hand look at how cruel they can be!" Senna folded her arms against her chest. "Don't become a terrorist, Vivienne."

"I don't think I plan on it," Vivienne shook her head. "I think I've become quite adjusted to combat. Although it would be nice if it were easier to win all of the time."

"That's why we take on free missions! To get stronger so we can win all the time," Senna twirled in place, not happy with standing still. "We'll get stronger together, Vivienne. Don't worry about it."

"But I will still do my best to advance to the point where I won't get in the way." Senna's jaw dropped there for a moment before she composed herself, shaking her head madly to where she caused herself to get a headrush. "I-I'm sorry to have bothered you. Excuse me.."

"No, Vivienne! I'm sorry.. I'm making you think you have to try harder to not get in the way. It's not like that. We're both novices.. I'm sorry." Senna swallowed, blinking away tears. This was reminding her too much of home. "I'm sorry.. Please forgive me.."

"Please.. You don't have to apologize," Vivienne said, looking shocked. "I'm not mad, Senna."

"I know, but still.. I don't like it. You don't have to change yourself for anything, Vivienne... Don't force an advance. You and I are still just new Guardians." She walked over and put a hand on Vivienne's shoulder. "We'll advance to not get in anyone else's way, okay?"

Vivienne gave a nod. "All right, Senna. We should do that free mission that Headmaster Nav talked about. I will meet you at the counter." Giving Senna a smile, she walked off towards the counter. Senna remained where she was for a moment, wiping her eyes and taking a few deep breaths before turning and running after Vivienne.

"Waiiit for me, Vivienne! How about you lead this time? Since I did the last mission!"

"Are you sure you want to do that, Senna?"

"Of course! It's best to take turns. That way we both get a feel for what it's like to take the lead in a mission."

Vivienne looked surprised, but smiled and nodded. "Let's hurry. The next transport is going to head out in five minutes."

* * *

"We.. barely.. made.. it.." Senna heaved as she collapsed onto the floor. Vivienne looked surprised.

"But we did make it. Although we had about 2.9 seconds left. You seem to run faster in a hurry," She remarked, making Senna laugh. The laugh turned into a cough, and Senna took a few deep breaths before shakily standing back up.

"I'm.. gonna go take a break, Vivienne.. Head back to my room and rest before I get called on another mission. You should do the same.." Senna suggested, before giving a smile. "We did do really good, though. An A ranking!"

"I am quite proud of that," Vivienne said, and she looked like she was as well. "I will see you later, Senna. Please, don't push yourself too hard."

"I'll try not to," Senna gave a sheepish smile before heading off to her room. Once there, she gave a hello to Mia before taking off her shoes and climbing into bed, falling asleep almost immediately. That entire day had been exhausting for her, but at least it was really nice to be an official Guardian.


	2. Meeting Hyuga Ryght

_**Author's Note:** _Hello chapter 2! As always, Spoilers for Portable 1 due to good ending route. There is a minor allusion to the mission, _Innocent Girl_, from Ambitions of the Illuminus in this chapter. Also, Tyson's of my creation but he probably won't appear until later on. Sooo... has anyone else noticed that there's something _very wrong_ with the ending of the second mission? o.o

(I kind of had to rewrite this because the old version was just too bleh to me. It remains majorly the same, but with the basic changes. A sidestory is coming up that's about the date.. may be posted tomorrow. Who knows?)

_**Disclaimer: **_I don't own Phantasy Star. If I did, there'd be things that were changed and you could date whoever the hell you wanted. I just own Senna.. and whatever other character isn't the PSU/PSP mainverse characters.

* * *

_"MAMA! HELP! HE'S ATTACKING ME AGAIN!" _Senna thrashed about in her bed before waking up, breathing heavily. Mia was at her side, a hand on her arm. Feeling the tears on her face, Senna sat up and wiped her eyes. Yet again, she'd had the nightmare that she was under attack for failing a test. It took her a few moments before she got out of bed and went to go change her clothes. Her Visiphone beeped a couple of times after she'd just finished showering and drying off, and she walked over to answer it in her towel. Mina appeared on-screen.

"Hello. This is Mina from Headquarters. A new special mission has come in, so it's safe to say that the investigation is complete. Please hurry to Headquarters as.. soon as you get dressed." Mina had, apparently, seen that Senna had answered the Visiphone in her towel. Giving a smile, Senna nodded.

"All right. I'll see you there!" She said, before hanging up. The smile faded, and Senna went back to getting her clothes and putting them on, tying her hair up in a ponytail. As she walked out of her room, she collided with someone else and fell onto the floor.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" A hand was held out to her. Looking up, she noticed a.. really busty blonde Newman holding out her hand. "I was just on my way out. Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," Senna said, a bit stiffly, before shaking her head. "Well, I am fine physically. But that doesn't matter. I'll move." She accepted the Newman's help of getting her back on her feet before the Newman left with an apology. Senna sighed, putting her face in her hands before stopping herself from screaming aloud and headed for the familiar Headquarters of the Guardians Colony.

Upon arrival, she walked up to Mina, who was behind the counter again with a smile on her face.

"I've been waiting for you, Senna. A new special mission request has come in. Further details will be given in the conference room.. but first," Mina's gaze went from Senna to somewhere on their left. "Maybe you should save Vivienne from Hyuga."

Senna followed Mina's gaze, seeing a well-dressed teenager with white hair and Vivienne together. "Oh, hotcakes, he's gorgeous." Senna said, which got a laugh from Mina. "No, I'm serious! Mina, stop laughing! Okay, okay, I'm going to go break them up."

She turned to face the well-dressed teenager and Vivienne, who seemed deep in conversation. "Or I could let them finish talking before breaking it up."

Their words carried over quite easily now that Mina had stopped laughing, and Senna had caught every word.

"Your face.. I would never believe it belonged to a CAST. It so expresses your inner beauty," The white-haired teen said. Senna tilted her head. Did CASTS have inner beauty? "I have yet to meet anyone with a face so rich and expressive as yours. This must be the work of the Holy Light."

Oh great, another fanatic believer. Senna rolled her eyes. He was still cute, though. From the side, at least.. It made Senna wonder just how he looked when he'd finally face her.

"Yes. My facial expressions are a new advancement of the revoluntionary technology that has never before been used by a CAST," Vivienne replied, "I am glad that you like them."

"Yes.. I can surely tell. And it's no trouble at all. Here, come look into my eyes. You can see your reflection in them, can't you? You'll see the lady who has utterly captivated me." Senna rolled her eyes and shook her head. That was.. the worst pick-up line ever. Cute, but bad.

"This has been going on for a while. Hyuga has a bad habit of trying to seduce every woman he meets. But he isn't a bad guy once you get to know him!" Mina added, noticing the look on Senna's face. Senna sighed.

"Yeah, I get it. He uses corny pick-up lines to get women. Hey, whatever floats his boat." Senna gave a shrug. "But did he have to use 'This must be the work of the Holy Light' part? How much of a fanatic believer is he?"

"I don't know. It isn't my job to keep tabs on why someone's religious. Maybe you should ask him." Just then, Vivienne walked up with a smile on her face and noticed Senna. Probably worried her, due to the look on Senna's face.

"Good morning, Senna. Is there something wrong?" The smile faded from her face. Senna shrugged.

"Just more nightmares. Who's your friend?" She asked, gesturing to the white-haired teen who was making his way over to them.

"I don't know. He just came up to me and started talking to me. But we will be working together again on this mission. I've been waiting for you to arrive." Vivienne's smile returned. Senna merely nodded, before noticing that the teen had come towards them. Now that she got a better look, he didn't seem to be bad-looking like she'd feared. No, he was quite handsome in most respects and had a really sophisticated look, like he spent hours in front of a mirror grooming himself just to pick up women.

"So, you're partners with her?" He asked, giving a smile. "I am Hyuga Ryght of the Mobile Defence Force."

Hyuga Ryght? Where had she heard that name before...? And then it hit her. "You're the guy whose room is right next to mine! Wow, did someone make a mistake or was that on purpose.." She trailed off, looking to Vivienne and then to Mina.

"Well, that room used to be Tyson's.. up until he left the Guardians right after you started your training. He didn't use it, though, so it was in mint condition," Mina explained. That information probably made Hyuga the happiest.

"So we're right next door to each other? Ah, the Holy Light has truly blessed this day! I meet two charming ladies instead of one... And one of them is my neighbor!" He winked at Senna, who hid her face in her hands. Now he was trying to pick her up, too! It was bad enough that Vivienne was getting hit on.. but now her? Senna didn't know exactly how to reply to that. Except that he really needed to shut up about the whole Holy Light business.

"Stop it." She punched his arm lightly.

"Ah, but I can't help myself in the presence of such beautiful women!" Hyuga said, smiling still. "Why don't we three all go to a cafe, or-"

"Okay, okay, we're here for a mission could you stop for a minute please?" Senna asked. "If you do, I'll.. I'll.. um.. I didn't think this through." She facepalmed, only to have Hyuga take her hand away from her face.

"Don't do that.. You'll ruin your beautiful face."

"Maybe I want to ruin it." She frowned a bit. "Can we just.. go? Please? I'll go out on a date with you if you'll just stop with your pick-up lines for at least an hour! Vivienne and I need to go to the conference room."

Hyuga seemed to ponder this for a moment. Then, he realized what she'd said. "You two as well? Actually, I've gotten word of a mission and am, in fact, on my way to the conference room myself," Hyuga said. Senna nodded, grabbing his wrist. "All right, let's go. All three of us to the conference room! See you later, Mina!"

Pulling Hyuga along, who seemed to walk with ease as his wrist was in her grasp, the three of them boarded the elevator to the conference room. Senna let go once they were in and got between him and Vivienne, her face in her hands for a moment.

"So, why were you acting strange back there, Senna? Did something happen?" Vivienne asked after she was situated as a barrier between her and Hyuga. The elevator doors closed as she spoke, and the elevator began its slow journey towards the conference room.

"Had a nightmare," Senna replied, forgetting Hyuga was there at the moment. "I didn't have them during training. I guess I was too exhausted to dream anything.. but last night, it happened."

"May I ask what it's about?" Vivienne looked concerned. "I understand that it's better to talk about nightmares in case they happen again. So you know what to look for."

"No. I don't want to seem like a pity party. I'll be fine. I hate them, but I'm not ready to divulge my life story as of yet." Senna glanced at Hyuga, and saw a mirrored look of concern on his face that she'd seen on Vivienne's. "You too?"

"It wouldn't be a pity party. I'm quite fine with you not telling me anything right this moment, as we've just met, but might I suggest wearing yourself out before going to bed? It's a good recipe for no nightmares. I've had to do it on several occasions," Hyuga responded. Senna gave a nod.

"Sounds good. I'll try it."

The elevator shuddered to a halt, and the doors opened. The three of them walked inside, where a pink-haired CAST, who looked like a young girl, was waiting for them.

"It seems you have arrived at last," She said. "I would hope you two would have a better appreciation for your roles as Guardians, protectors of the future of Gurhal."

"Ah, Lou, you're just as tough as ever," Hyuga said, looking sheepish. Senna glanced over at Vivienne, who seemed slightly upset. Senna didn't know how to feel about being chewed out by a CAST, but at least it was better than Laia chewing her out.

"A casual attitude towards our obligations leads to sloppiness on the field, which leads to casualties," Lou responded. Senna wanted to smack her forehead again. She and Vivienne had a good talk while on one of the free missions and there were no casualties! ..except the sleeve of her shirt which was now in the laundry. She didn't dare speak up about it, however, as she would probably get chewed out more.

Lou launched into an explanation of their mission. They were to go to Green Green Farm, a place that Hyuga had purified before, that was situated on Parum. There were altered native creatures who had been causing damage, and it was their job to purify it.

"Once you've suitably equipped yourselves, go to the Parum-bound shuttle and stop by the Parum branch of the Guardians," Lou said. Senna turned around and walked back to the elevator, hearing the footsteps of Hyuga and Vivienne behind her. She wiped her eyes a bit before the elevator doors opened and they all got inside.

It was a quiet trip back to the main lobby of Headquarters. Senna hadn't felt like talking. She didn't even talk when Vivienne and Hyuga did, instead wondering if she was really being sloppy by being casual. It was just how she was, and she'd been like that throughout her training with Laia.

"Oh, before I forget. Senna, let me give you my partner card," Hyuga held out a card to her, the same kind Vivienne and Laia had given her. Senna nodded, taking hers out and exchanging it with him.

"Card for a card," She said, a bit monotone. "I'll meet you two on Parum. I need to get something from my room."

Hyuga looked slightly confused, as did Vivienne. Senna left them there, nearly running to her room and shutting the door behind her. She hiccuped, before starting to cry, sinking to the ground and burying her head in her knees. It took her an hour to stop, and she sniffled a little before going to wash her face and grabbing the rifle she'd picked up from the free mission she'd taken with Vivienne. Once she was ready, she headed for the shuttle that would take her straight to Parum.

* * *

Vivienne was there at the PPT port station, waiting for her. "Hyuga went on ahead after I asked him to," she said to the look on Senna's face. "I was worried. Why did you speak so strangely?"

"Memories." That was all she divulged, giving a shrug. "I guess I'd hoped I'd never have to go to the planet he worked at."

"'He'? Who is 'he'?" Vivienne asked. Senna was saved from responding when Laia showed up.

"Hm? Is that you, Senna?" Laia asked. "What're you two doing here?"

"Mission reasons. What about you?" Senna inclined her head.

"Are you on a mission here?" Vivienne asked, curious.

"Something like that. But here, I can't hold my head high like I do at the Colony. Here, Humans, Newmans and Beasts are just outsiders. Non-CASTS are seen that way, as Parum is mainly run by CASTs," Laia said, giving a shrug.

"Outsiders?" Vivienne asked, a hand going to her chin in thought. Senna looked from her to laia and back again, turning to look for the Guardians branch.

"That's right. You're still not too experienced in the world yet. The other races aren't oppressed or anything. They can have businesses and lead normal lives," Laia explained, "It's the whole 'CAST supremecy' thing. The other races are seen as inferior to them."

"Which is a load of Koltova dung," Senna said. "Some CASTS just think that way.. It's just really stupid to be all 'I'm supreme!' or something like that. So don't let that get you down, okay, Vivienne?"

"It makes me sad, though," Vivienne pointed out. "How can one think they're superior to someone else?"

"Power-hungry, mostly," Senna said, shrugging. "Anyway, Laia, we need to head off. We'll see you again soon, okay?"

"All right. You two be careful. And stop filling Vivienne's mind with junk. You're responsible for how she turns out," Laia said, before walking off. Senna sighed, and walked off with Vivienne in tow. Vivienne talked to her as they walked, and Senna gave short, light answers that helped keep Vivienne's mind off of what they just talked about with Laia. Upon passing a weapon store, she froze as she looked inside. _He_ was on-duty today... busy with a customer.. and he was staring straight at her.

"Viv, book it. Now." Senna said, as the man in the shop started to walk towards the doors, the customer being left at the counter.

"But why-?"

"Please, don't argue. Hurry!" She took off at a run, Vivienne following close behind. Senna didn't let up until they were at the Parum Branch's doors, collapsing to her knees and panting heavily. Vivienne knelt down beside her as Senna tried not to throw up, narrowly avoiding splattering the pavement with bile.

"Maybe you shouldn't run so much, Senna.. Why didn't you slow down? What was so bad about that weapon shop in the GRM?" She asked, placing a hand on Senna's shoulder.

"Someone who I joined the Guardians to avoid, Vivienne," Senna replied, shakily standing back up. "He works here on Parum.." She trailed off, shaking her head. "But it's nothing, really. We should head in. Hyuga's probably waited long enough."

"Right." Vivienne helped Senna up, and the two of them walked inside. A CAST woman was at the desk, who smiled at them as they came up to her.

"We-welcoming to.. to Guardians! We make the future of tomorrow's Gurhal!" The woman said, still smiling. Senna blinked. Her speech mechanism might've been really busted up for her to be talking like that. Maybe she took a few bad hits when in the Guardians and that's why they stuck her behind a reception desk. Senna looked to Vivienne.

If she could help it, Vivienne wouldn't get damaged whatsoever.

"You Senna and you Vivienne, right? I've been 'specting you. Last, but not least. I am Sheena of the Holtes City Guardians branch." Sheena then apologized for not having good speaking skills and launched into an explanation that their destination was Green Green Farm and that Native Creatures were damaging the place. Hyuga soon arrived, walking over to them.

"Hey, you're here. Shall we get going then?" He asked, before spotting Sheena. "But before that.."

Senna faceplamed. She wasn't feeling up to hearing his pick-up lines and the speech about the Holy Light right now... but ended up hearing about it anyway, with Vivienne staring like she didn't understand why he was trying to pick up Sheena.

"Sheena. Today of all days, we should follow the guidance of the Holy Light, don't you think?" Hyuga said with a smile.

"Hyuga, you're here! What are the Holy Light saying?" Sheena asked, giving him a curious look.

"They are saying you should have the opportunity to gaze at the night sky with me. How about it?"

"Oh, we interpret them differently. I am being told that I should be sleeping at night." She looked a little put-off about the 'gazing at the night sky' part. "I've nothing further. Please begin your mission at the mission counter."

"Shall we go then, Senna? Hyuga?" Vivienne asked. Hyuga didn't seem to want to give up.

"C'mon, Shee-na!" Hyuga said, as both Senna and Vivienne grabbed an arm of his.

"We'll be taking him now," Senna said, giving a smile to Sheena. "Have a nice day, Sheena! Bye!"

"May the Holy Light are have guidance!" Sheena said, smiling as they left while dragging Hyuga along. "Buh-bye!"

* * *

"All right, could you two let go of me?" Hyuga asked as they continued dragging him towards the mission counter.

"Sure," Senna let go, and so did Vivienne. Hyuga lost his balance and fell on his back. Senna gave a laugh and held out her hand to him. "Sorry about that. You did ask if we could let go. Didn't think you'd fall like that."

"It's quite all right. I wasn't really expecting to be let go." Hyuga gave a smile, taking Senna's hand. She helped him up and dusted him off, before catching a glimpse of the man she was trying to avoid. Had he stalked her? Giving a shudder, Senna turned.

"Okay. Hyuga. Vivienne. Book it. Now. We're being stalked," She said. _I'm being stalked. By that.. that man. I wish he'd just leave me alone._

"Is it that man again?" Vivienne asked.

"What man? Don't tell me you've gotten in trouble already, Senna," Hyuga said, looking shocked.

"I _will_ be in trouble if we don't book it!" Senna said, her voice raising a couple octaves. "Please, just start running!"

The three of them started to run, Senna outrunning Hyuga and Vivienne by pushing her body past its limits despite the few times she nearly stumbled. She kept looking back, noting the man getting smaller and smaller, but seemingly moving still. She didn't have time to collapse at the gate, only swiping her card through to get to Green Green Farm. Once the three of them were on the shuttle, Senna stumbled and fell against a wall, coughing and breathing heavily while sliding onto the ground. Hyuga didn't look winded at all and Vivienne just looked like she was really concerned.

Curling up, Senna took in deep breaths. She could feel someone put a hand on her back and looked over, seeing Hyuga kneeling beside her. Vivienne knelt by her too, holding out her hand.

"Was he really stalking you, Senna?" Vivienne asked. Senna hiccuped, and gave a nod. "He seemed to have an angry look on his face when I caught a glimpse of him."

"M-maybe... but I guess... I-I might've been seeing things.. S-stupid of me to run, really.." Senna replied, taking in slow and deep breaths. She still couldn't run like the rest of them, even after three months of training. What was wrong with her?

"Is this why you joined the Guardians? So you wouldn't have to run away?" Hyuga asked. Senna shook her head.

"Nothing like that.. more of wanting to do good for the Gurhal System," Senna lied, giving a weak smile.

The shuttle they were on finally docked near Green Green Farm. Senna had recovered from her episode, and followed Vivienne out. Hyuga's hand was still on her back, as if he was trying to comfort her. Senna took a shaky breath, exhaling and looking to Hyuga.

"I'm okay now, Hyuga. Thank you," She gave a smile.

"Anything for a beautiful woman like yourself," Hyuga smiled back, before noticing where they were. His hand left her back, and she stepped forward a bit while he spoke again. "Ah, Green Green Farm. So we've arrived at last."

"It's so vibrant! There's so much nature all around us!" Vivienne said. "This is.. amazing!"

"Is this the first time you've seen a sight like this on Parum? This planet has much natural beauty such as this. But it was all artifically created in the aftermath of the 500-year race war that completely destroyed the planet's own natural beauty. It's all manufactured," Hyuga explained.

"..It's artificial?" Senna asked, blinking.

"Yes, I did say it was manufactured, after all," Hyuga looked at her strangely. "I'm guessing you weren't paying attention?"

"..I was, for once," Senna shrugged. "That's too bad, though. It being artificial, I mean. It's kind of like those artificial flavours and sweetners in some foods. But it's still beautiful, nonetheless."

"..It's quite sad for it all to be manufactured.." Vivienne said, sounding down about it.

"But the labor required to turn desolation into this beauty isn't a small feat. I have to tip my hat to the CASTS."

Senna started to wander as Vivienne and Hyuga were talking, feeling like she could probably take on this mission herself if she wanted to. But she hadn't wandered far when she heard Hyuga calling her. Turning around, she gave a sheepish smile and started to walk back towards them. She'd missed about half of the conversation, only coming back to see a young dark-skinned blond-haired boy.

"Senna, this is Kalam," Hyuga introduced the boy to her. "His mom, Remlia Norphe, went to go protect the koltova but Kalam here lost contact with her. We should go find her for him."

"Right. Don't worry, Kalam," Senna gave a big smile. "We'll get your mother back safe and sound!"

"Thank you, Guardians," Kalam said.

"Wait where it's safe, all right? We don't want you getting hurt," Hyuga said. Kalam nodded, taking off somewhere that was safe from the altered native creatures.

* * *

"Okay so time to get to purifying.." Senna took out her new rifle, adjusting its scope and looking through it. Vivienne summoned her double-bladed sword and made sure it was battle ready while Hyuga adjusted his gloves. Senna looked over to him.

"Please tell me you have a weapon," She said. Hyuga gave a chuckle.

"Now, now. Don't worry about that. We need to purify the farm. I'd be quite daft if I were to leave my weapons behind when I know there's a mission to do," There was a tone of seriousness in his voice. He pulled a sword out from the module on his back. She could clearly see the 'G.R.M' printed on the sword hilt. He liked GRM-made weapons, huh?

Putting it out of her mind, she took the lead, running forward and shooting down altered native creatures before they could attack her. Swapping out for her sword, she smacked a shark-like native creature with it before swapping back for her rifle and shot down a couple more creatures before they were able to head on.

"You seem more focused today, Senna. You haven't wandered off much," Vivienne pointed out, Senna took down a Polty and shrugged.

"Maybe I feel more focused today. That's all," Senna replied, reloading her rifle with more photon bullets.

"You've been doing marvelously. A real leader. You might just be my ideal partner!" Hyuga said, with a grin on his face. "Unlike Ethan, of course."

"Waber?"

"That's the one."

"...His room's right next to Tonnio's."

Hyuga laughed. "You really have an eye for that sort of thing, don't you?"

Senna blushed a little at that, shooting a tree on accident. "Whoa! Trigger happy finger knock it off," She scolded herself before they finished purifying the first area, ending up in the second. As they were about to continue on, Vivienne stopped.

"Please wait. I'm picking up a distress signal," She accessed it, giving a slight frown. "It is from Remlia Norphe."

"Do you have a location?" Hyuga asked. Senna took the time to adjust her scope again, looking through it.

"Yes. I will take us there."

"I can rest easier just knowing where she is. Let's hurry."

Vivienne took the lead, guiding them towards where Remlia Norphe was. Once they found her, Hyuga took her back to where Kalam was, leaving the two of them alone. Senna sighed, taking the lead and heading forward as the two of them cleared out the altered native creatures. It didn't take them long to clear every area, including one point where there was a really big dragon that Senna had to keep shooting in the head and avoiding at every point until it died and dissolved into nothingness.

Heading back, they were reunited with Hyuga, Norphe and Kalam.

"..I'm glad she has someone who cares about her enough to want us to find her.." Senna murmured, watching the scene between the two of them. "I mean, it's really good. I'd like someone like that someday."

"You might get someone like that," Hyuga assured. "Well, Remlia, Kalam. We have to go now."

"Thank you for all of your help," Norphe said with a smile. "Be safe, Guardians."

"We will." Vivienne nodded.

* * *

They arrived back at Holtes City a half hour later, leaving the area while chatting animatedly with each other. Hyuga was talking about a date he'd been on where the girl couldn't stop hiding her face and blushing every time he spoke to her, which had made it difficult for them to converse over dinner. Vivienne talked about how her first day of basic training went, and surprised them all by saying that someone had told her to call them 'Master'. Senna laughed.

"That guy must've been really power hungry!" She said, trying to catch her breath from laughing so hard. "I feel so bad for you, Vivienne!"

"..Then, why do you laugh?" Vivienne looked confused.

"The guy probably thought you were his servant- okay now that I think about it.. it's not that funny. Sorry.." Senna rubbed the back of her head. Vivienne smiled a little.

"It's okay, Senna. I'm not mad.. I was confused."

"What about you, Senna? Anything to talk about?" Hyuga asked. Senna shrugged.

"My first day of training with Laia.. she made me do about a hundred pushups with her sitting on my back," She said, in a tone that said it wasn't that big of a deal. Hyuga and Vivienne stopped walking to stare.

"..What? It's not like it was anything compared to home life. Anyway, the next shuttle back to the GUARDIANS colony should be arriving soon. We better get there quick." Senna took off at a run. It took Vivienne and Hyuga about a moment to run after her. The shuttle was easily boarded, and took off for the Colony once everyone who was headed there had boarded it. It took them no time at all to arrive back at the Colony, and for the three of them to head back to the conference room, where Headmaster Nav and Lou awaited.

With explanations on what they'd seen there, along with the three of them witnessing Headmaster Nav talk to Fulyen Curtz, who was a part of the Alliance Military. However, it turned out that he denied any sort of mistake on the Military's part.. but did agree to investigate. With that aside, Hyuga, Vivienne and Senna were made to sign confidentiality agreements. Senna and Vivienne were taken off the Mobile Defence Force and put into the Intelligence Section, with Hyuga remaining in the Mobile Defence Force despite being involved as well.

"...I don't understand.." She murmured, watching her feet like they were interesting. If boots were interesting, that is. "..Why is it that we're moved, yet Hyuga remains in the Mobile Defence Force..?"

"Possibly because we encountered the terrorist, so we're more deeply involved than he is," Vivienne said, having overheard what Senna said. She looked up, frowning just a slight bit. Hyuga had stopped, turning towards them.

"Ah, yes. Would you two like to join me for a candlelight dinner?" He asked, smiling at them both. As if nothing had happened, like they all were still on the Mobile Defence Force together. Like they'd be going on missions together again. Like nothing was different. Senna walked over to him and grabbed him by his shoulders. It was easy, since they only had about three inches of height difference.

"-We just got taken off the Mobile Defence Force.. and you're asking that? You're just as involved, you should be in the Intelligence Section with us! You saw it too! You saw the infected native creatures.. You should be with us!" Senna said, eyes filling with tears. "I want you with us, Hyuga!"

"We can't go against what Headmaster Nav and Lou have said.." Vivienne said, as Senna buried her face in Hyuga's chest. He awkwardly patted her, not really certain how he should go about comforting her. It took a few moments for her to stop clinging to him desperately and move back. Feeling embarrassed, she kept her head down.

"I think this dinner would be good for Senna. As for me, I'll be doing some reading for the next free mission we're going to take on," Vivienne gave a smile before walking off, towards the rooms. Senna kept looking at the floor while Hyuga awkwardly rubbed the back of his head.

"Well, shall we say seven this evening? Meet me outside of the main headquarters. I'll treat you to a dinner you'll never forget," He said, getting back his confidence. Senna looked up and wiped her eyes, nodding.

"Okay. See you then, Hyuga. And don't be late, please!" Senna called after him as he walked away from her. Senna watched him go, and then smacked herself.

"..I just stared at his ass. Great."


	3. Filler: The Disaster Date

_**Author's Note: **_Help I've fallen and I can't get up. Anyway, short filler before next mission, in which I should never be allowed to write from Hyuga's point of view.. _ever._ Also headcanons ahoy because I used to RP Hyuga? Sorry for the late upload, but it's better than nothing, right?

Also it's really short but it's a filler! Fillers are supposed to be short, right? ...**_right?!_**

_**Disclaimer: **_I DON'T OWN PHANTASY STAR. Not at all. If I did, it'd be a dating game. Because I'm stupid like that.

* * *

It was with a high hope of meeting Senna for dinner that night that had Hyuga nearly on cloud nine. He did take a lot of other women out on dates, but this was the first time a dinner date had ever been accepted. He could admit about one or two of them were just casual flings (and made him feel positively upset about it. Hyuga hated calling the women he dated 'casual flings', despite that being what they were).. but he could never admit that he'd ever gone on a successful date with any woman that didn't end with a boyfriend finding out or the woman losing interest because he was more interested in getting to know them, which the woman would take as an interest into getting.. well, more than just a date.

His room door opened, and he walked inside, moving to the dressing area and discarding his clothes, selecting a different outfit. Catching sight of his back in the mirror, Hyuga reached over and touched a faint, white-ish scar on his shoulder. There were a few more, but he ignored them and headed to the bathroom, which he took a long and much-needed shower, mulling things over before he exited an hour later, drying off and wrapping the towel around his waist.

For a moment, he'd forgotten why he was getting dressed up.. until he realized he had a dinner date in a couple of hours. Shaking his head, mentally chewing himself out for forgetting, Hyuga dressed in the outfit he'd chosen for the date, adjusting his tie just a slight tad. It looked nice.. more sophisticated than his usual outfit, if he had to say it himself. Smiling to himself, Hyuga walked out of his room and made sure to locate Senna's room, which was on his left, and give a couple of knocks.

Nothing. After five minutes, he knocked again. Still nothing. Was Senna out and about? Or was she waiting for him at headquarters? Thinking she was probably waiting outside of headquarters for him, he made his way over, thinking that this was more or less something that would cheer Senna up from what had happened earlier. He didn't mind it, though he'd hoped she would be in better spirits once they were done with the date.

The trip to headquarters took him no time at all.. but then he remembered something and dashed back down to the shops, getting at least a bouquet of flowers. Women did enjoy getting gifts on the first date. Hyuga just hoped that Senna wasn't allergic to them. It was then he'd gotten a notice on his visiphone, which was from Vivienne.

_I'm sorry to bother you, but Senna's back on Parum. It's urgent, so please hurry._

Mentally chiding himself, Hyuga ended up going back to his room and changing his clothes again before heading to the shuttle to Parum. Vivienne was standing near the PPT Port when he arrived, and pointed down to where Senna was.. in an argument with someone else? What he didn't expect was Senna getting smacked, and then kicked right in the stomach, causing her to reel back. The rest was a blur, only remembering running to Senna and Vivienne bodily tossing the guy who kicked her in the stomach. It was such a blur, he probably blacked out.

"Did I save her?"

"You did," Vivienne put a hand on Hyuga's arm. "I've heard from the medical department that Senna will be fine.. once she stops throwing up her lunch."

He gave a weak smile, before the two parted and he retreated to his room.

* * *

"I don't.. want to stay in bed!" Senna groaned. "I had a date, and then it got ruined and now I bet Hyuga hates my guts. I want to- go apologize! Let me go! Let- go!"

"You need to stay in bed, Ms. Eiselstein," the doctor said, continuing to fight against a struggling redhead who seemed bent on leaving her bed. "You're in no condition to go anywhere."

"I'm in perfect condition now let me go!" She finally got away, causing the doctor to sigh and adjust his glasses before shaking his head and muttering about unruly patients.

From the infirmary, Senna ran through headquarters with a rushed "Hello!" to Mina and Laia, who seemed shocked to see her just run right through. She knew where Hyuga's room was, so she was quick to find it, only to slam into someone already at the door and topple over, giving a yell of fright as she did so. Wincing, she looked up to see Hyuga kneeling down and offering her a hand. She took it, and got back up with his help.

"Hyuga, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-" Before she could get any more words out, he silenced her by putting a finger to her lips.

"It's all right. Let's reschedule for when you're feeling better."

"...Thanks."


	4. Vivienne's Helping Hand

_**Author's Note: **_This covers Mission 3 and the beginning part of Mission 4. Semi stupid, semi fluffy, semi angsty and definitely full of dorks having a sleepover. If anything, this is getting to be quite weird. And I think I forgot how to do this right. oTL Also allusions to part of Senna's heritage in this? Maybe? I DON'T KNOW this fic is getting weird. I think I'm out of practice oTL

_**Disclaimer: **_I DON'T OWN PHANTASY STAR. Not at all. If I did, it'd probably end up like FE:A. I don't think anyone wants that.

* * *

Despite the fact that Senna had, undoubtedly, accidentally ditched the date, Hyuga hadn't held it against her despite her multiple apologies and attempts to reschedule. Unfortunately, he was too busy with work over at the Parum Branch, which dampened her spirits. Perhaps he was upset with her. That would explain why he'd gotten so busy all of a sudden. Maybe she should've just let it be, and make up to him when they both weren't busy. Taking free missions while waiting for something else to happen was boring. She'd completed about fifteen, and did the same ones over and over. There weren't many missions to begin with, so Senna found herself facing these missions alone a lot.

Deciding to take a break, waiting to be contacted by Mina about a new special mission or something of the sort (because, by now, Senna wanted to just take all the special missions and kick their butts), Senna carefully boarded the shuttle to Parum, undoing her ponytail and swapping her clothes in the bathroom from the Pritia Set to the Phantis Set. Glancing into the mirror, she adjusted her hair a bit to make it less obvious that it was her and not some random girl coming to Parum on vacation or something. Once the shuttle docked at the Parum PPT Port station, she disembarked and headed out.

Once she'd made it into Holtes City's center, Senna glanced around, seeing the familiar white hair of Hyuga and his trademark purple. Grinning to herself, she raised a hand and walked towards him.

"Hey, Hyu-" She stopped, her arm dropping. He was talking to a pretty blonde girl... and her heart dropped to her stomach, tears starting to form in her eyes. Great, just great. Playboy casanova, he was. He'd been so nice to her before their mission and.. She shook her head, turning away just as he looked in her direction and running off, back to the PPT Port.

She threw up in the bathroom.

Running like that, she hated it. It exhausted her to the bone and she usually felt queasy afterwards. She'd been unlucky enough to not eat anything that morning, so all she really threw up was.. nothing except stomach acid and bile. Once she arrived back at the GUARDIANS Colony, Senna basically just walked to the clothing shop and bought some of the old GUARDIANs uniform sets with what Meseta she had. Once she was done changing clothes in her room, Mina called her up about a new special mission. Tying her hair up, she headed to HQ.

"You look like you've seen better days," Mina said, taking in the sick-like paleness of Senna's face. Senna waved it off, shaking her head and heading to the conference room before Mina could start saying anything else. On the elevator ride, Senna looked back on seeing Hyuga with that blonde, and shook her head. It was obvious that she was an idiot for thinking he'd actually be interested in her. The doors of the elevator opened, and she stepped out.

"Senna, you're late," Vivienne said, although her expression was sad. Senna just shook her head and shrugged, before staying where she was. She just wanted to go to her room and cry, but she wouldn't allow it to happen. No, the people of Gurhal needed her, and she would make sure to not let them down. Lou's briefing of their new mission was brief. It looked like the investigation on Moatoob had been stalled by rouges, and they were to go join with someone from the Mobile Defence Force in this mission. Hitting the elevator button, the doors just slid open again and Senna walked in, followed by Vivienne.

"You seem to have lost a lot of colour to your skin. Is this.. normal?" Vivienne asked.

"..When you're feeling like I am, yeah," Senna replied. When they exited, and then headed to the PPT Port, a bunch of people were walking off of the Parum shuttle. Senna's stomach twisted when she saw who she wished she'd never see again, and just ignored it. Including the calling of her name, which annoyed her to no end. Over and over again, she heard it.

"It looks like Hyuga's wanting your attention, Senna."

"Nope."

"Senna!" It really was Hyuga. And the sickness she'd felt when she'd seen him with that blonde came back. She turned around, coming face to face with Hyuga. Without even thinking, she shoved him backwards and turned away from him.

"Shove off, Hyuga! Go back to your little floozy, I'm not going to give you the time of day any more!" She said, her voice shaking. Senna gave no time for Hyuga to respond, instead running into the shuttle that was going to leave for Moatoob. Vivienne had boarded too, and Senna plopped herself in a chair. Curling up, burying her face in her knees, she'd started to cry silently until the shuttle landed. As if recomposing herself, she headed off, and the two of them went to the GUARDIANS branch there in Moatoob.

"Telling Hyuga to 'shove off' may not have been the best idea," Vivienne pointed out. "He looked hurt."

"He said he was busy, and then I find him out with another woman! I mean, I thought he was.. That I was.." Senna cut off, putting her face in her hands. "...I guess I'm just a green-eyed monster."

"Don't say that. Your eyes are gold, not green. And you don't have any SEED attributes," Vivienne said. She still had a lot to learn. Senna looked up, shaking her head.

"It's a metaphor for envy."

"You're.. envious? Of that girl?"

"Maybe.. Shouldn't be, but Hyuga's.. Nevermind, we need to hurry."

Upon arriving at the branch, after some time, the fact that the receptionist at the front was very informal made Vivienne a little mad. Senna couldn't help but slightly laugh at that, before apologizing profusely. The receptionist got even more upset, and then ran off before calling for someone.

"I bet this one will be just as uncivilized and rude as the receptionist."

"Um, but I don't think that's right to say, Vivienne."

"Don't you think so? The receptionist makes it seem like the Moatoob GUARDIANs are uneducated."

"It's just a way of speaking, Vivienne. It's a little rough, sure, but don't judge a book by its cover before reading the contents."

"...That's a really weird metaphor."

"It means you shouldn't be so quick to make assumptions and get to know the person."

"..Then I should tell you not to, as you did with Hyuga."

"He's a womanizing jerk!" Senna stomped her foot on the ground, akin to a child.

"Is this.. hypocricy?"

"...Yeah you got me."

Just then, a male Beast showed up. He had a mouthful of a name, and Senna stumbled over it about fifteen times before he said that they could call him Leo.

"Leo is much much better than Leo-Leo... Oh Holy Light, I can't even say the full name! I'm so sorry!" She doubled over laughing at herself. It was contagious, and soon all three of them were laughing. When the introductions were out of the way, the mission began.

Taking the G-flyer to the area where the distress signal was, all Senna could do was look out the window and watch everything speed by. If Vivienne was right, she'd hurt Hyuga.. but if she was wrong, then Senna had every right to remain mad. The area they arrived at not too long after was infested with altered native creatures. Senna was unusually focused, even moreso than usual. Though, she couldn't let herself space out too badly during this crucial time. It was the means to their success in the mission that kept her from wandering off.

Or worse, using herself as a decoy.

The altered native creatures went down easily enough and soon, Senna, Vivienne and Leo were at the crash site. Though Vivienne couldn't get any signs of life from the area, the number of bodies didn't match the number of crew and passengers onboard the now-crashed ship. They had to follow the tracks, and soon came upon some mines.

"...I don't think I like the colour of this place," Senna said. Leo shushed her, and ordered them all to hide. There were three men, who seemed to have some sort of treasure. Except one of them had a seat from the shuttle. Senna glanced at Vivienne, who was staring at the three men with an expression that said 'what'. She held back laughter, since it seemed like all three of the men were comparing treasures and giving flak to the guy with the shuttle seat. Her hand covered her mouth, and the red-afro Newman said something about a data card.

Vivienne and Leo had headed out to confront them while Senna tried to compose herself. Certainly Leo and Vivienne had some reason to get angry at the three, but Senna listened closely to the conversation. Immediately, she ran in between them after hearing them banter back and forth. It didn't sound like they were listening.

"Okay, stop stop _stop._ Vivienne, Leo. Listen to them. I know, I've been holed up trying not to laugh but seriously! Desperate times call for desperate measures. People need food to eat, water to drink and a way to survive. And Rouges are.. well, prime examples," Senna said.

"I never thought I'd hear a GUARDIAN stand up for a Rouge," Leo looked slightly amused. Vivienne was a bit put out about it.

"Okay, let's just.. calm down then." Senna turned to the three. "Can we search the area? It might put their minds at ease if they understand you didn't shoot down the shuttle if they can't find evidence of it."

"Y-you can't go any further!" The blond Beast said.

Senna blinked. "..Okay, then. So, I'll just push right through you. Leo, Vivienne, could you please back me up? We're forcing our way through."

"Bring it on!" The red-afro Newman said. Senna drew out a pair of knuckles with the Ice element on them, smacking the ends together. Leo and Vivienne drew their weapons, and the six of them engaged in combat. They were evenly matched, and quite a few times the black-afro Human smacked her around a little. Vivienne was outsmarting the red-afro and Leo and the blond-afro were locked in combat.

"You're a Beast!" The black-afro Human said, as Senna shook off his next attack. She grinned, before punching him right in the face. The other two went down easy. It seemed like they were down about getting defeated by GUARDIANs, but it was more or less because their boss had showed up.

Alfort Tylor.

Vivienne wanted to apprehend him, but Senna stepped in her way.

"Senna, please move," Vivienne said. "I need to apprehend the suspect."

"No. I told you, don't judge a book by its cover before you read the contents."

"That is highly hypocritical of you."

"Yes, I know. But, honestly, it's like your CAST problem. First you think they're all too superior and get prejudiced against them. Now you're trying to apprehend suspects without gaining proper evidence. I understand you're still new, but please."

"I understand." She nodded.

"Okay." Senna turned to Tylor, who seemed amused at what was going on. "We just need to keep moving and explore this place. You don't mind, right? I mean, you could come along too?"

"We were just doing our own investigation," Tylor said, the amusement still on his face.

"So, if you let us help, we could kill two birds with one stone!"

"But there aren't any birds.. a lot of stones, though." Vivienne commented.

Senna shook her head. "Another metaphor for getting two things done at once. Doesn't really include birds."

"If you let us help, it'll raise up suspicion from you," Leo suggested subtly. Tylor, amazingly, accepted and the four of them headed in while the dunderheads stayed back under Tylor's orders. The native creatures that appeared there were no match for their combined power, although Tylor commented he didn't really like fighting the native creatures.

Or so Senna thought. Maybe she was just spacing out again. Frowning to herself, she stepped forward a few steps, right into a native creature's path. The creature attacked her without missing a beat, and Senna stumbled to the side, collapsing to it before using her gun on it, shooting it twice in the head and getting back up.

"Senna, are you all right?" Vivienne asked, worried.

"I can take a beating." Senna smiled, before swapping her gun out for her rifle. "It's my genes. Ever hear of mixed race?"

"..There haven't been any records of it."

"Huh. Thought they'd update the records when I joined. Oh well." She shrugged, dropping the topic. Heading from area to area, following nothing but her own sense of direction, it wasn't long before they found the familiar Photon Cube. Senna took out her rifle and held it over the cube before dropping it in and then dropping a Photon Charge in on top of it. It was soon recharged, and she did the same with all her other weapons that needed a recharge before stepping away and letting the others do the same thing she did.

Upon reaching a volcanic-like area, Senna looked around. The terrorist from before had come out of nowhere, and she stared. The terrorist then summoned a strange-looking creature, forcing them all to do battle with it. It was hectic, and Senna didn't even notice she was bleeding until Vivienne pointed it out. Patching herself up with a quick Monomate, she continued doing what she did best and shot at the head of the monster until it died.

Afterwards, the return to headquarters was bittersweet. The terrorist's identity was revealed as Helga Noimann, who had died twenty one years ago. Since it wasn't their job to do anything about the remnant SEED or getting the factions scattered in the Gurhal system to come together, they were told that their mission was complete. And Vivenne looked beside herself.

"Did something good happen, Vivienne?"

"Oh, nothing." She kept smiling. "I am quite happy."

"..Okay."

Heading back to hwer room, however, was an entirely different story. Who would linger outside of it but Hyuga Ryght, resident casanova and the one person Senna didn't want to see again. Hyuga seemed to notice that they were there, and turned to face her. She frowned, before trying to move around him. Obviously, he blocked her way.

"We need to talk, Senna."

"No, _you_ need to talk. I need in my room."

"About what you saw-"

"You with a floozy? Yeah, sure. I saw it. Now let me by."

"Not until you listen to me."

"Don't you start with that!"

He continued to block her way, until she grabbed him and basically shoved him into the door. It opened, and he fell backwards and into her room. She stepped around him and headed over to her bed, before falling face-first on it and screaming loudly. Thankfully the scream was muffled.

"You have quite the arm.."

"Compliments aren't wanted."

"Senna.." Vivienne spoke up. "Maybe you should take your own advice and not judge a book by its cover."

"...I guess I have to set an example.." She muttered, sitting on her bed. "Fine, talk."

Hyuga then explained he'd been meeting a friend, in which Senna scoffed at but let him continue, and when he'd seen her he'd heard her call for him but cut off. And then he'd basically chased her back to the colony, but his shuttle had been delayed. All to try and tell her that. She followed his movements, before sighing.

"Fine, fine. I overreacted."

"She was actually the green-eyed monster." Vivienne said. Senna grabbed her pillow and threw it at Vivienne.

"Vivienne!"

"I thought that he'd already known."

Hyuga laughed. "So you were envious? Dear me, Senna. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you liked me in some way."

"Shove it, I do not."

"In any case, what would you say to dining out with me tonight, hm? I'd be happy to."

Senna mulled it over. "You owe me big time, Hyuga. I want cake."

He looked so happy when she said that. "Meet me at six. I'll go make reservations." And he ran off, almost skipping with glee. She held in her laughter until she figured he was good and gone, and then started to laugh out loud.

"Oh, dear heavens. V-Viv, did you set this up?"

"A little. I thought that maybe if you two talked, there wouldn't be any more judging books by their covers."

"Okay, okay."

Six pm came and went, and Hyuga had thought he'd gotten stood up. Half past, he'd thought to ask Vivienne where Senna was when someone fell flat on their face in front of him. The familiar dark red hair was all he needed to know that it was Senna. She groaned, getting up and wiping her face off.

"Sorry I'm late. I got kind of sick.." She said.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Just a bit dizzy."

Hyuga put a hand on her back. "We don't need to go. You do look unwell."

"But I-"

"It's all right." He cancelled the reservations and lead her back to her room. "How long have you been feeling like this?"

"..Since I.. boarded the shuttle from Parum to the Colony when I saw you.."

"You must have overexerted yourself. No matter, we'll do better than a dinner."

"Hm?"

"Ever heard of a sleepover?"

* * *

Senna didn't know when she'd nodded off, only that she'd woken up clinging to someone. And that someone turned out to be Hyuga. And the state of her blankets told her that she'd fallen off the bed.. Either that or sleptwalked and clung to Hyuga. He was sleeping pretty peacefully, so she shifted to let him go and was rewarded with him mumbling and turning over, an arm ending up pulling her closer. She freaked a bit, before settling down and closing her eyes again.

Maybe this wasn't half bad. Nodding off again, she'd subconsciously snuggled closer to Hyuga and mumbled something about cake. It was a while later when her Visiphone went off that she actually woke up again. Groaning, she detached herself from Hyuga and wormed out of his hold to get up and move over to the device.

"Senna, this is Mina from Headquarters. Another special mission has come in." Mina's voice resounded out of the visiphone, and she stole a glance at Hyuga, who seemed like he was dead to the world at the moment.

"That's quick.. Do I have to.. be there soon?" Senna stifled a yawn.

"Well, they're still getting all the details done, but I was told to contact you and let you know that you'll be needed here shortly."

"Call me again when it's time to go.." She said, sleepily. Once she'd hung up, she moved back over to Hyuga and laid down, going back to sleep.

It was obvious she didn't feel all that great, the fact that she just basically went back to sleep instead of getting ready for the mission. Perhaps it had been the adrenaline rush from earlier, or the fact she'd ran a lot in the past few days to the point of vomiting. Her Visiphone went off a half hour later, and Senna didn't bother waking up.

Not until someone shook her awake. She groaned, and sat up. "I'm up, I'm up.."

"You've got a mission to go to," Hyuga's voice sounded so far away. Senna nodded and got up, stumbling towards the bathroom area. Taking a bit to shower and get clean clothes on, she didn't bother tying her hair back up and, instead, let it stay down as it was. Hyuga looked a bit concerned, and she glanced at him.

"..Why aren't you.. wearing a shirt? ...Or pants, for that matter..." She asked, more in a sleepy state. He gave a sheepish smile, rubbing the back of his head.

"Well, I.. don't really know." Senna shook her head and picked up his clothes from the floor, walking over and handing them to him.

"Get dressed, okay..? I don't want people getting the wrong idea..."

Hyuga nodded, heading off to the bathroom to do so. She left him a note and headed out to the conference room at the GUARDIANS headquarters. Obviously, she was late as everyone had was already there. The mission this time was to get something to blackmail them, and Vivienne knew blackmail was a crime.

"It just can't be helped," Senna said, wiping her forehead. "Things like this have to happen sometimes."

"I see.." She trailed off, looking away. The fact that they were going to Neudaiz, though, it was like a dream come true for Senna. She'd always wanted to go there. Perhaps it was because it looked amazing from the brochures she'd read. Going there was a cinch. Upon meeting the Newman receptionist, she called for someone named 'Ms. Shidow'. Of course, Vivienne was still skeptical about the informant.

"The informant has their reasons for not revealing their identity to us," Senna said, shaking her head.

"But it doesn't mean that the person is trustworthy. If they wanted our trust, then they would say who they were, would they not?" Vivienne asked.

"Not exactly. Look at it this way, Viv. Informants, where I'm from, are basically hunted down if their identity is found out. So that's why." Senna replied, shrugging.

After basically getting the lowdown, Vivienne, Senna and Maya headed to where the informant would be at... after hurrying away from where Light Master Rutsu was. Senna chanced a glance back, and thought she saw him glaring in their general direction. Once they arrived at the rendevous point, Senna looked around in awe.

Meeting Karen, and Ethan, was a nice surprise.

"Ethan Waber? The one who infiltrated the HIVE and saved the rescue team from the HIVE attack?" Vivienne asked.

"...His room's right next to Tonnio's, but two doors away from mine." Senna said, blinking. "...I want to see your room."

"That's a bit blunt." Ethan laughed.

"At least she's back to normal," Vivienne remarked, earning a pat on the shoulder from the redhead.

"Yeah, yeah. Anyway, we should probably get going, shouldn't we?" She looked at Karen, Maya and Ethan. After Maya decided to go deal with the security systems, due to Light Master Rutsu looking for them, the four of them headed off.


	5. The Kidnapping: A Revelation

_**Author's Note: **_Covering each mission like I did before is hard. I mean, I'm getting more and more sidetracked. So I'm going to skip over Missions 5 and 6. How? Easier done than said. But yeah, it's probably a little mary sue-ish in this chapter but can someone actually fight someone they're afraid of..?

Sorry that everything's so wacky. I'm just jotting everything down as I play through. Also, summary update. I suck at summaries but it's going to stay like this now.

_**Disclaimer: **_Phantasy Star, Phantasy Star, where for art thou, Phantasy Star? ..SEGA? Oh, right, you belong to SEGA. Not me. Well, then.

* * *

Mizuraki C.D.

Senna couldn't stop to take in the sights, as a lot rode on this mission. Like, for one, she wanted to watch the cherry blossoms but couldn't. And two, if she slacked off, Karen would probably kick her ass. She didn't know, but she wasn't about to find out. On the bright side, fighting alongside Ethan Waber eased her spirits some. He was definitely reliable, and he knew exactly how to fight. Although his fighting style was sort of crude, it got the job done.

The problem was, once they cleared as many areas as they could without having that Light Master Rutsu catch up to them, it was apparent they were somewhat being followed without them noticing. During the small rest period where they all rechared their weapons, Ethan noticed something out of the corner of his eye. Senna blinked, looking over to him. It felt like he was staring at her.. but it was more of what was _behind_ her.

They had company. Ethan volunteered to take down the armed servants, and headed off to do so while Vivenne, Senna and Karen went on ahead... although Senna turned back for a moment.

"Don't get too hurt!"

"Right. And you look after that rookie CAST, Vivienne!"

"Don't worry, I will!"

She waved, before turning around and running after Vivienne and Karen. However, the Omnagog stood in their way. Senna frowned, and Karen said that they had to take it down quickly.. along with the fact that its wings were its weak point. So they started in on it, Senna firing her rifle from the back, watching as the wings twitched during each shot. Though it was difficult to take down, the combined efforts of the three finally brought it down and Senna watched as it vanished into nothing. Perhaps it was a good sign..

Once the three of them caught up to Maya, the blonde-haired Newman pointed out to the west. Apparently, what they had come to find was a facility that was breeding altered native creatures.. or perhaps creating new ones along with breeding the current ones. Senna felt a bit shaken when Karen explained that the area they were looking at was being loaned to the GRM. So.. that meant..

She felt so sick to her stomach.

Though they were to leave and throw this evidence into the Communion's face, someone had come up behind them as they spoke. Vivienne looked surprised, and Senna felt even sicker than she had before. Karen turned out to be the Divine Maiden, and Rutsu wanted to take them into custody. There was a lot of bantering back and forth, and a few times the Holy Light came up. Senna stared straight at Rutsu. Laws were above the Holy Light? She scoffed, and he glared at her. Although his smile was.. creepy, to say the least. They were able to talk their way out of getting arrested by the Communion, and Karen showed them out to the city.

When they'd walked out, Senna sort of walked ahead grumbling about fanatic believers and stupid idiots, to the point she had to stop and turn around. Maya, Karen and Vivienne were sort of staring at her. She shrugged.

"I only dislike super fanatic believers, and 'laws above the Holy Light' basically takes the cake. Not saying that everyone here's like that.. It just gets on my nerves. Never been a big fan," Senna said, before turning to look at the city itself. "I sort of want to live here one day... But I may not get to.. who knows?"

Karen and Maya, along with Vivienne, had a long conversation that soon turned to be about a person's heart, which Senna eagerly joined in and helped prove a point.. by putting an arm around Karen's shoulders. The purple-haired Newman shoved her arm off and Senna laughed.

After saying their goodbyes, Senna and Vivienne left back to the Colony, and back to the conference room. Though they got Neudaiz to cooperate, Senna felt a little sad that there wouldn't be much reconition on their end. It was weird to hear Lou break character to try and help cheer her up, but Senna just shrugged and plastered on a smile.

She couldn't be proud of what she'd helped complete.

This would lay on her conscience forever.

* * *

"Senna, you're back."

Senna stopped on her way to her bathroom, noting the familiar voice. She turned, and facepalmed so hard she nearly knocked herself out. Hyuga was _still in her room._ For the love of-

"Hyuga, why are you here still?" Senna asked, highly confused at this turn of events. He chuckled, before standing up and walking over to her. She stared at him, thankful that her height didn't make her have to crane her neck up to see him much. His hand touched the top of her head, and he messed up her hair by ruffling it. She yelped and backed up, pulling her hair out of her ponytail and fixing the mess he'd made of her hair.

"Did you have a difficult mission?" He asked. Senna shrugged, sitting down on her bed and shifting the clothes in her arm over to the other one before setting them down on her bed. It had felt like it, but she didn't really know. Not at all. It just felt like a blur to her. And.. whatever was on her forehead felt cool to the touch, and she glanced at Hyuga.

He was feeling her temperature. Pulling his hand away, he took the clothes off the bed and put them near the door to the bathroom. She watched, not feeling like getting up or anything. Though he tried, multiple times, to get her to lay down, she utterly refused. Finally, in a desperate attempt to get her to lay down, he grabbed the extra blankets and pillows he used before and made a pallet on the floor.

"Why are you undressing, Hyuga?" Senna asked, picking his tie up off the ground.

"If I sleep here with you, will you finally rest?" Hyuga retorted, watching her dangle his tie in front of her face. She didn't answer, but put his tie on her desk. He sighed, and proceeded to undo his shirt, letting that fall to the floor. And she picked it up and shoved it at him.

"Stop undressing," Senna frowned at him.

"You've got a fever. And you need to rest," Hyuga proceeded to strip off his undershirt, leaving him in just his pants.

"...And you're going to undress to have that happen?"

"..I don't feel too comfortable sleeping with the majority of my clothes on."

Senna relented, and went to change into her pyjamas while Hyuga was left to bury himself under the blankets wearing only his boxers with his clothes neatly stacked on the nearby chair. She came back a few minutes later and promptly fell onto the pallet next to him. Covering her with the blanket, he slightly smoothed out her hair.

"Rest well, Senna."

* * *

If only her dreams could be nightmare-free.

_"MAMA! MAMA! HE'S HURTIN' ME, MAMA! HELP! PLEASE, HELP ME!" _Senna screamed, thrashing about as she was delving into yet a second nightmare. Her screaming woke Hyuga from a sound sleep, and he was groggy at first until he noted her face contorted in pain and fear.

"Senna?! SENNA!" He shook her, trying to wake her up. She was crying in her sleep, and he had to be a little forceful with his shaking. She woke up, but the tears still streamed down her cheeks as she sat up and hugged him. He hugged her back, rubbing her back soothingly.

"It's okay, Senna. I'm here.. There's no need to cry," Hyuga murmured. Senna nodded, hiccuping, and just tried to keep herself from breaking down any more. It took a while for her to calm down, and when she did.. she had to run to the bathroom because she felt sick to her stomach again.

Though, she went straight back to bed when she came back out, muttering something about taking today off to actually rest and relax. Hyuga pulled her close and let her snuggle him, closing his eyes and drifting off back to sleep. It was some time before he woke up again, and Senna was sleeping soundly. There was no sound of nightmares but.. why was her Visiphone going off? Pulling on his shirt, he answered it.

"Senna? I- Oh, dear.. You're not Senna," It was a woman. Her holographic form shifted a bit. "Can I speak to her?"

"Certainly," Hyuga gave a smile before going to wake Senna up. It was a chore, as she mumbled and basically latched onto him and didn't let go. But she finally woke up and walked over to the Visiphone, seeing a hologram of someone she didn't think she'd see for a while.

"M-Mom?" She stared for a moment. "I-Is that..?"

"Yes, Sen. It's me. How are you?"

"Been through the wringer. How about you? How are you and Kyle doing? I sent you this month's Meseta check, so you should be good on rent and miscellanious things."

"I'm fine. And thank you, it's helped us a lot. Kyle does miss you, though."

"He's only three, he'll get over it."

"Ha ha, very funny, Senna." Her mother shook her head. "By the way, who is that young man and why is he wearing only a shirt..?"

"His name's Hyuga Ryght an- HYUGA!" Senna turned to face him.

"I didn't have time to put my pants back on!"

"Hyuga Ryght, you dastardly man.. I'm gonna..." She picked up her pillow and threw it at him, hitting him square in the face and laughing when he fell over. He threw it back at her, and she got hit in the face with it. The three of them laughed hard at this antic.

"Anyway, honey, I should probably let you go so you two can finish what you were doing." Her mother winked. "Bye-bye!"

"MO- oh great now she thinks we were..." Senna facepalmed. "Hyuga, next time.. wear a pair of pants for the love of the Holy Light."

After the fiasco with her mother, Senna felt sort of awkward around Hyuga. Only because her mother had wrongfully believed that Senna and Hyuga were having a physical relationship. The two of them were just friends who cared about each other, nothing more and nothing less. She'd decided to go to Moatoob to clear things up, when she'd found someone she didn't want to see chatting up..

Chatting up.. Ethan Waber?

Panic set in, and Senna tried to make herself look small. Ethan had noticed this and raised a hand in her direction, and it looked like he was smiling. The man with him, however, was staring hard at her. And Senna bolted.

_Get to the GUARDIANs Headquarters and barricade yourself in the conference room. Better yet, have Lou shut down the elevator to the conference room. Yes, that's it._ Senna thought as she ran the familiar path from the residency. She could hear pounding. Footsteps.. and practically flew into the headquarters and wove around the people, going to the elevator to the conference room. She smashed the button, and was relieved when the elevator came down and the doors opened. Running inside, she made sure they shut before anyone else could board and took the long journey to the conference room.

It was oddly empty, and she frowned. Skirting around the main circular device in the middle, she basically dove under one of the control panels and positioned a chair in front of her to block her from view. The elevator came up again, and _he_ came out, looking around before he spotted her and made a beeline for her.

It was a blur.

The rest was a blur.

She remembered him knocking the chair out of the way and slamming her into the wall with the window, and spit flying as he asked her why she hadn't gotten a job yet and where his girlfriend was. But, past that, she couldn't remember anything. Maybe he'd slammed her against the wall again, or punched her.

None of it. She couldn't remember _any of it._

* * *

"You have minor head trauma."

That was a first. Senna tenderly touched her head, which felt bruised and swollen. Her vision was impaired, and it was likely due to the cut over her eye that they had to bandage. She glanced at Ethan, who looked apologetic, to Hyuga, who looked sort of like he was teetering on the edge of murder.. Or maybe that was just her imagination.

"I'm sorry, Senna. If I knew-" Ethan began, but Senna raised a hand and shook her head. The motion made her head hurt. Like nails were being hammered into her head. Maybe this was what head trauma felt like. Maybe that was why she couldn't remember her encounter with the bastard.

"It's fine. He would've found me here anyway. What happened? ..I can't remember a thing," Senna looked down at her hands.

"I followed him and chucked him from the room." Ethan shrugged. "Not exactly like that, but it happened somewhat like that."

Senna nodded, before laying down, staring at the ceiling. Minor head trauma, and from being slammed into the wall? Or was it something else? She watched the lights, and listened to Hyuga and Ethan talk to her, sometimes giving an answer. The two of them seemed like the bestest friends, but.. the way things were, it felt like they were her personal guard or something.

After her encounter with _him_, she'd been taken off active duty for a while to recover. Vivenne looked upset, and Senna just nudged at the floor with her foot. Though they were partners, Vivienne would be doing missions alone for quite some time. At least there weren't going to be any new special missions for a while.

Or so she'd thought.

Vivienne came to her a few times. Talking about the mission to Moatoob that she missed due to having to be off active duty. But the next mission she undertook, Vivienne never came back. Senna got worried, so she went to headquarters to find out, only to see Maya coming out.

"Oh, Senna! You heard?" Maya looked a bit surprised to see her there. "Vivienne's having to undergo mandatory maintenance for some adjustments."

Senna blinked. "Uh, this is the first I've heard. I've been off active duty for a while due to head trauma. But, anyway.. That's too bad. I kinda wanted to see her again, and probably forcibly put myself back on active duty. I'm going stark crazy. I don't want to end up having to send a reduced check to my mom- oh.." She rubbed the back of her head. "Nevermind that. See you later, Maya!"

And she bolted into Headquarters.

* * *

"F-Finnaaalllyy! Back on active duty! Now, then... hm, I should probably go get some new clothes. I'm wearing mine out," Senna hummed as she headed towards the clothing shop in Parum. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Hyuga again.. and then her stomach twisted into knots again.

Stupid... playboy.. _jerk!_

He didn't even notice her, too busy with the woman. Another 'friend' of his, she supposed. Moving up close, out of sight, she heard every word that transpired. Of how he used every pick up line, and how.. she just fell for it. She finally understood.

She was envious because she was _in love with him._

Senna shook her head and headed for the PPT Port instead, going to Moatoob to visit her mom and probably see that GUARDIAN named Tonnio. Or she could go wandering around rouge territory. Though her visit with her mother was brief, as Mina called about a special mission, Senna was able to confide in her and got some wise advice from her mom.

"Stomp on his foot and make sure he feels it in the morning," Her mom had said, elicting a laugh from Senna. Once the two had parted, Senna went to the GUARDIANS Colony and headed to headquarters, still wanting to stomp Hyuga's foot and give him a good kick for flirting with that woman. She rolled her eyes.

In the conference room, Headmaster Nav told Senna about a RELICS site on Parum, which had a device that could control altered space like a confinement unit. She was tasked with finding the device for them so they could confine the SEED. As for Vivienne, there was a small defect in her construction so she wouldn't be joining her on the mission. That sort of put Senna down, even though Vivienne didn't seem concerned herself, although she was just a hologram at this point.

The upside was that Headmaster Nav was going to join her on the mission, so the two were to go to Parum and head through Raffon Meadow to the RELICS site. Senna went ahead and headed to Parum, with full intentions of punching Hyuga if she saw him. Though, she wasn't really able to see him, despite meeting Headmaster Nav at the Parum Branch of GUARDIANS. The two of them set out, and Senna focused more than usual.

Getting through the meadow was a cinch, and Headmaster Nav pointed out the entrance to the RELICS site. How he was speaking made Senna quirk an eyebrow, as if he had _planned_ all of this. Note to self: don't trust old CASTs, or something like that. It was kind of cryptic, but she supposed that she'd find out all about it one way or the other.

"Headmaster, where exactly is this confinement system?" Senna asked.

"Just further in. We should see it here soon," Headmaster Nav responded. Senna nodded, swapping her rifle for a double sword weapon. Maybe it was time to take the frontlines instead of letting others do all the work. Going into the RELICS site was actually pretty cool, as it felt nicer in there than it did outside. Senna stood still for a moment, before realizing they had a mission to do.

There was no more time to space out.

Her grip on her sword tightened, and she headed in with the Headmaster. The two of them acted fast, and cleared much of the areas with altered native creatures and remnant SEED. It was only once they hit the third block that Senna realized she'd been brought along to assist in Helga Noimann's capture. There was no space control device.. whatsoever. Huh.

Helga seemed upset that Headmaster Nav had planned it, but answered what he had to ask. Helga Noimann had died.. and surpassed humanity thanks to the SEED? Senna blanked. This was really odd. But she'd died by the SEED, and was reborn by the SEED? This was getting too confusing for her poor brain to process. No wonder she failed written tests. Although, after realizing what Helga _did.._ Headmaster Nav seemed ecstatic.. or maybe it was her imagination.

The Stateria were a new foe.. from an ancient civilization.

Once Senna and Headmaster Nav had killed the Stateria assaulting them, they headed off for Helga in an attempt to not let her escape. The pathway that Helga had taken was like a maze, having them backtrack several times to figure out exactly where she went. Locked doors impeded their path, and more than once Senna just screamed in frustration. Though, they had to get out of there instead of chase Helga. After all, they had a mountain of things to report to the president.

...The president?

After beating some form of dragon, Headmaster Nav contacted Lou for a relief flier. That was when they found out Vivienne had been kidnapped by terrorists, and the colony had sustained damage from the terrorists. The relief flier met them at Raffon Meadow once they left the RELICS site, and they were transported back to the Colony. It felt like everything had come crashing down, and her only partner was _gone._

Despite asking about Vivienne, everything came up blank. She hadn't sent out a distress signal, which meant that there wouldn't be a rescue attempt. That's when Headmaster Nav decided that it was time for Senna to hear the whole story.

Vivienne had been used as an Illuminus spy, to infiltrate the GUARDIANS. Manufactured with espionage capabilities by either the Illuminus themselves or someone at GRM who worked for the Illuminus, every piece of data Vivienne ever collected was transmitted to the Illuminus.

Senna felt like someone had torn out her heart.

First Hyuga, and now Vivienne. She wasn't to trust anyone, was she? The president told her to take a rest and forget about it, and she slammed her hands down on the desk.

"Forget about it?! Forget about this, forget about _Vivienne?!_ Why the hell should I?!" She shouted, anger apparent in her features. "I'm not going to. _Never!_ Vivienne's my partner, and I won't forget a word that was said here."

With that, she turned and stormed out of the president's office.


	6. The HIVE's Destruction

_**Author's Note: **_We have now reached the end of the Portable 1 Era! Thank you to all who have read this story from beginning to end. This fic is long from ending, but it's obviously a milestone to have reached the last chapter so soon! We'll have a quick 'in-between' moment from 1 and 2, to catch up on what happened to Senna and Vivienne after the end of Portable 1 before moving on to Portable 2. It'll be the next chapter, so look out for it!

_**Disclaimer: **_Phantasy Star is property of SEGA and I make no profit from this, obviously. It's just a fanfic.

* * *

After a while of milling around in her room, finally putting on the Mikunas Set she'd bought in Neudaiz a while back, Mina called her about the president wanting to talk to her, so she headed out to the GUARDIANS headquarters, to the Conference Room. Mina didn't know that Vivienne had been kidnapped, and was an Illuminus spy, and Senna kept it that way.

When she made it to the conference room, there was no talk of disciplinary action against her for her outburst earlier. Instead, Professor Tomrain, who researched A-Photons, said that they were facing a HIVE. They wanted her to infiltrate the HIVE and carry out an investigation. Once detailed data on it was obtained, GUARDIANS and the Alliance Military would exterminate it.

She was to take Lou with her, but Lou acted strangely... and turned into Vivienne, who begged them to go to the HIVE and stop Helga using the force of the GUARDIANS. They thought it was a trap, and Senna slightly believed it to be true.. although, something in the back of her mind said that it wasn't, and that Vivienne was telling the truth. Helga releasing the SEED sounded like something the SEED-Form wanted to do.

They shut the Lou unit off, despite Vivienne's pleas. The infiltration into the HIVE became more dangerous than before, and Senna stared at the window. She was told to stand by and wait until a new plan was figured out. Leaving the area, Senna headed out to the shops. Lou approached her, looking a bit forlorn.

But, if she remembered correctly, Lou never allowed herself to show emotion on her face.

"Vivienne?" Senna asked.

"You.. knew it was me! ..Senna.. That's so wonderful! Can you please come to the HIVE? I can only ask you.. The other GUARDIANS wouldn't believe me," Vivienne said. Senna thought it over for a moment before giving a shrug.

"What are partners for, Viv?" She asked with a smile. "I don't know how to get to the HIVE, though.. I can't ask anyone for he- Wait! What if we went to Moatoob and asked the Rouges for help? That could be an idea.. Maybe Tylor.."

"That sounds like a good idea. I'm sorry to have to ask you to do something that'll hurt the GUARDIANS' trust in you.. but you're the only one I can count on." Vivienne hugged her, before heading off. "I'll escape from the Intelligence Section, and help guide you. We'll meet up in Moatoob."

"Right. See you soon, Viv."

* * *

The shuttle landed in Parum, and Senna disembarked. If she was to go to the HIVE, she wanted to go without regrets. And this regret wouldn't keep her here forever, she wouldn't let that happen. Briskly walking to the GUARDIANS Branch, she let the doors open.

"Sheena, I need to talk to Hyuga Ryght. Is he here?" Senna asked upon approaching the receptionist's desk.

"Hyuga? He was here m-mostly a moment ago," Sheena responded. "I am being told that he is mostly doing more missions."

"...I'll go find him. Do you know the last mission he was on?"

"He was destinationed for Raffon Meadow, but his mission has already ended."

"Thanks. I'll go to the Flyer Base and meet him there." Senna gave a smile before running out, heading towards the Flyer Base. It took her a few moments to get there, but she arrived just as a few GUARDIANS disembarked. Hyuga was among them. Playboy jerk or no, Senna didn't want to deal with regrets.

"Hyuga!"

"Senna?" He turned to face her as she came running up to him. Grabbing his shirt, she yanked him forward and forcibly kissed him before breaking away.

"No regrets," she said with a smile, before patting his shoulder and turning away. "I'll be seeing you, Hyuga! Don't forget me!" And she ran off, leaving behind a very confused Hyuga.

"...What was that all about?"

* * *

Moatoob was her next destination, and on the ride there she took down her ponytail and grabbed a fistful of her own hair, cutting it off. No regrets. There were none. Watching her hair fall to the ground, despite the uneven cut she'd just done, Senna would leave her hairband at home with her mother.. a memento. She'd be saying goodbye to everyone she knew today.

Because, it was inevitable that she'd die today.. Rescuing Vivienne from the HIVE and taking down Helga.

Saying her goodbyes to her mother was tough, and her mother kept crying. She kissed her on the cheek before leaving the house to head to the pub, where the Rouges were. Vivienne met up with her outside of the pub, and the two of them entered. Liina was surprised to see Lou there, but only she knew that the CAST beside her was really her partner..

"The Landeel might be able to get us to the HIVE!" Vivienne said.

"What's up with her? She having an off day?" Liina asked. Senna grimaced a bit.

"What's going on?" Tylor asked, obviously confused. It was probably Vivienne's persistence in having them transport them to the HIVE in the Landeel.

"We need transport to the HIVE," Senna said, deciding to wave down the bartender and ask for something strong while the negotiations went on. Her throat was parched, and she basically drained the glass she was given. Vivienne gasped.

"Senna! You shouldn't be drinking at a crucial time like this!" She scolded.

"I'm not a lightweight, Viv. Um, some water too, please.. Thank you." Handing over the Meseta, Senna drained the water glass and set it down. "I was just really thirsty."

"If you're talking about a HIVE, there isn't any such thing any more. The Alliance Military made sure of that," Tylor said, frowning. Senna turned to him.

"Helga is at a HIVE! She wants to unleash all the SEED onto Gurhal! Please, you have to help!" Vivienne said. That's when Tylor asked the main question.

"Is that you, Vivienne?"

Vivienne, though she felt bad about it, turned Lou's body into her own. Since the Tylor family still owed them one, Tylor allowed them to use his ship to get to the HIVE. Though he didn't necessarily think he'd ever be going back to a HIVE again, it was pretty obvious that they all were going to head there and take it down before Helga could unleash all of the SEED onto the system. So he told them to meet him at the Colony, and he'd take them to the HIVE in the Landeel.

* * *

Going back to the Colony, Senna had to hurry to the port where the Landeel was. She wove through people, Vivienne following after as Lou before nanotransing back into herself once they made it to the port. Catching sight of herself in the window, she grinned a bit before heading onboard the Rouge's ship. They were able to get in with no trouble, and headed through the HIVE while Vivienne was explaining what was going to happen if they didn't stop Helga.

Senna and Vivienne were faced with countless SEED and SEED-Forms as they headed through the HIVE. Senna sustained many cuts from fighting the SEED, but she healed them over with a Resta without giving any thought to how it would look if she kept doing that. The walls looked alive, and staring at them for any amount of time made Senna feel queasy. It looked like this HIVE was breathing..

"I feel sick, Viv..." Senna said, stumbling back.

"Just don't look at the walls, okay?" Vivienne said with a smile, patting her on the back gently. Senna nodded, swapping her rifle for her double sword. Vivienne gave her a quizzical look, and she shrugged. As they cleared out SEED while trying to get to where Helga would probably have Vivienne's body at, Senna felt a little dizzy and fell to the ground, right as one of the SEED attacked her from behind. It hurt, and her back stung. She got back up and casted Resta on herself. Now there was probably a tear in her clothes. Great. Just terrific.

At least they afforded her a lot more mobility than her prior clothes.

Taking down the SEED that had attacked her, she continued onward. This HIVE felt like one straight-forward path. Upon reaching the third block of the HIVE, Vivienne said Helga's Illuminus henchmen were there, and they couldn't risk being detected. The fact that Vivienne noticed that the soldier had been smashed before the world shook had given Senna some insight on what they were going to be fighting. It was called a Carriguine, and it took some time to take down. Hit after hit, it seemed like it was neverending.

It kept beating the crap out of them, and Senna, in her desperation, dragged herself over to Vivienne's double blade as it advanced on her, raising one of its swords. Her hand closed over the hilt, and she brought it up. Vivienne screamed, and the Carriguine keeled over. Senna got back up, handing Vivienne her weapon before casting Resta on herself over and over until her wounds were healed.

The real form of the Carriguine was a blue-haired human male. Vivienne felt sad that it had happened, but they both knew that they had to take down Helga for Gurhal to be safe. With Vivienne, who had said something about her heart and emotions being all thanks to Senna, she thought she could take on the world.

Oh, how wrong she was.

* * *

They arrived at where Helga was, and Vivienne's body was right beside her. Helga made some quip about growing tired of seeing the same old faces. The HIVE they were in was a miscalculation that Helga called 'wonderful', though Senna didn't see what was wonderful about it. She just wanted Vivienne back. Vivienne turned back into Lou, who seemed to have regained her consciousness. However, Lou was going to place Helga _and Vivienne_ under arrest. Senna clenched her fist. No, no! It wasn't Vivienne's fault!

But what Helga said about Vivienne was like a punch to the stomach. Vivienne was only a Copy CAST, manufactured to simulate Helga's combat abilities and thoughts... and that she was nothing more than Helga's puppet. Helga then set Vivienne on them.

Vivienne's fight power had somehow increased tenfold.

It was a fight that Senna couldn't put her heart into, and held back. Lou had no qualms about holding back, and attacked at full force. The fight itself took what felt like forever, and Senna thought that Vivienne would never come back to herself. But, her thoughts proved to be false, as Vivienne regained consciousness.

"You cannot stain my heart with darkness."

Those words were what Vivienne said to Helga. Helga was growing furious at how Vivienne stood up for herself, and Senna couldn't help but smile a little. Helga really was getting what-for, wasn't she? Verbally, but it was pretty cool. Lou said that the GUARDIANS and Alliance Military were en route to the HIVE, and that Helga should surrender.

The HIVE shook. And Lou still wanted to take Vivienne into custody.. and destroy her. Senna got in between them.

"No. I'm not allowing Vivienne to be taken from me a second time. Your rules of Copy CASTs can go shove it. I'm going with Vivienne to stop Helga. You can stay here and wait, or you can come with us." Senna said, venom apparent in her voice.

"If we do stop Helga, the HIVE could be stopped.. and I'll face my punishment." Vivienne looked to Lou, who gave a solemn nod before updating the Lou at Headquarters of the new plan they were undertaking. Never before had Senna really stood up to an authority figure, but she wasn't about to take Vivienne's punishment lying down. As they delved deeper and deeper into the HIVE, chasing after Helga towards the core of the HIVE, their vision was impared by darkness that gave the SEED an advantage. The battles were fought, and many times the three of them had to pause to use Resta to recover from the fights. Senna felt better when they could see their way through instead of bumbling around in the darkness.

Upon arriving at the core of the HIVE, the last thing for them to do was stop the A-Photon reactor's power source. If they did that, then the SEED emissions would cease. Helga was standing in their way, and transformed into her SEED form, which.. kind of made Senna gag a bit. Her laughs echoed around the area as she formed a barrier around herself, summoning two SEED to assist her in fighting.

The battle was long and difficult, due to Helga's innate ability to avoid their attacks and jump around everywhere. It was like fighting Vivienne all over again, but this _wasn't_ Vivienne. They finally beat her after a while, in which she glared at all of them.

"I'm growing tired of you.." She growled.

"Your plans end here, Helga Noimann!" Senna shouted. "We won't let you destroy Gurhal!"

"I wonder about that.. It's you who will regret coming this far." Helga smirked, before transforming into a gigantic SEED. Another battle awaited all of them, and they fought with vigor, destroying the gigantic SEED... before it transformed into a bigger SEED, with wings this time. Swapping her gun out for her sword, Senna stared into the face of Death.

And laughed.

"Viv, Lou! Let's do this.. For Gurhal!" She yelled, charging in head-first into battle. The SEED they were fighting was difficult, even moreso than the prior one. Helga was really pulling out all the stops to make sure they didn't win, wasn't she? Though it felt like they were going to all die here, Senna pushed on. Her body was worn out, and her clothing torn.. but she was going to fight.

"You won't kill anyone! You won't return the system to the void! You're the one who's going to go to the void!" Senna screamed, attacking with all she had. Soon, the gigantic SEED fell, and they were victorious yet again. Helga was upset that she'd been defeated, and called Vivienne all sorts of names..

But Vivienne stood up for herself, and used a TECHNIC that banished Helga into the seal of the alternative dimension. It was a strange phenomena that a Copy CAST could use a TECHNIC like that, but once the A-Photon Reactor was shut down, it was put out of their mind by the GUARDIANS and Alliance Military arriving. Lou, Vivienne and Senna evacuated on the Landeel back to the GUARDIANS Colony.


	7. Side: What Happened After

_**Author's Note: **_Hello and welcome to the short in-between chapter that chronicles what happened to Senna and Vivienne after 'The HIVE's Destruction'. It's told from Senna's point of view, hence the change from third person to first person. There isn't much dialogue here, but it does get the job done. Also, Vivienne only really appears for a bit of it because of reasons.

_**Disclaimer: **_I don't own Phantasy Star. If I did, there'd be an option to, idk, be the bad guy or something.

_After returning from the HIVE in the Landeel, and a week of suspension, Vivienne and I had to go in front of the council of GUARDIANS. Headmaster Nav and President Dallgun were also there. I'd disobeyed orders, and Vivienne had unintentionally leaked data to the Illuminus without really realizing it. We were to be punished, and I feared that Vivienne would get destroyed like Lou had said. Headmaster Nav was able to talk the council out of destroying Vivienne, but what we both got instead.._

_Well, we both were stripped of our GUARDIANS rights, and I lost my home. So I ended up packing up and going to live with my mom for a couple of days. That was when Vivienne found me, and said that Tylor had asked her to find me. And then I remembered.. Tylor had made us an offer to become Rouges if GUARDIANS life didn't work out for us, didn't he?_

_That was pretty nice of him. In that light, I left everything with my mom, with promises that I'd be careful this time and not get myself into any more trouble. Vivienne and I headed over to Gawik's Pub, to meet up with Tylor and Liina. The Vol Brothers looked quite surprised to see us. I think I knocked back about 3 of the glasses of liquor the bartender had given me, before asking for some water like I did the day we went to save Gurhal._

_Tylor asked us a question. Were we ready to become Rouges, and be a part of his Rouge group?_

_The correct answer that we could give was 'yes'._

_Vivienne and I had nowhere else to go, so it seemed right for us to become Rouges. We became a part of the Tylor family of Rouges, and used these connections to search for clues to the Illuminus. Vivienne and I worked together with the Rouges for a month, and then Ethan joined us. He'd been falsely accused of an assassination attempt on President Dallgun, so he seemed genuinely surprised to see us. He knew the reasons of our dismissal.. Vivienne's was lumped with mine, which was directly disobeying orders, so he didn't know that she'd ended up becoming a spy unintentionally._

_Helga stopped showing up wherever Vivienne went, which was a good sign. Vivienne told me that she'd figured out how to stop transmitting data to the Illuminus, and that she'd probably need to go in for maintenance soon. But a Copy CAST couldn't get maintenance without a lot of questions.. so we went undercover to find someone who could. A man from the GRM came to us while we were looking in Parum and told us he'd do the maintenance. I used my best impression of Lou to get him scared enough to agree to maintenance with me supervising so he didn't do anything weird._

_We weren't with the rouges that week, but something else happened while we were here._

_The GUARDIANS colony crashed on Parum, and President Dallgun died. While wandering Parum, I ran into Laia. She didn't recognize me undercover. I guess that was a good thing, because it saved me from awkward questions. She seemed to have a teal-haired Newman GUARDIAN and a young girl with her. I think I felt a pang of jealousy, and a sense of being replaced._

_I think that's what started my streak of recklessness. Vivienne noticed this, but she didn't bring it up. I guess I was a bit scary at that time. The entire system of Gurhal was in disarray, and the two of us could do nothing for it._

_And then, Lou contacted me._

_The same Lou I had taken with me to the HIVE months ago._

_Laia was president of the GUARDIANS, and had specifically asked that Vivienne and I be reinstated as GUARDIANS in the Intelligence Section again for a mission she needed us to undertake. But it would require us to separate, and pretend we didn't know each other. We'd update on our progress, but the future of Gurhal was at stake. I was to pretend to be a mercenary, and Vivienne would pretend to be a wanderer. Lou then took me to a salon, and forced me to undergo a change in appearance. It would keep people from knowing my true face._

_I think that was when I started having the nightmares._

_I remember that guy, who Vivienne and I mercy-killed at the HIVE. The blue-haired male who had turned into a SEED appeared before me, before transforming and attacking. Over and over.. and soon he was joined by Helga, taunting me for being weak and worthless._

_I think that, too, was helping my new reckless streak._

_Around the time the nightmares began, I started getting sick. Honestly, I'd never gotten checked after I went to the HIVE, so I think this was me experiencing symptoms of becoming a SEED? I don't really know, but all I know is that I kept vomiting blood and passing out at odd moments due to intense pain that made me scream out loud._

_I suppose, in a way, that was my body telling me I'd been infected by the SEED during the assault on the HIVE. I'd heard of a vaccine for the SEED virus, but I never did go anywhere near a town for fear that I may black out and hurt someone. So far, from what I've collected when I wake up, I've only destroyed altered native creatures. I guess I was afraid of what may happen if I do come across a person._

_That was strike three, and my reckless streak grew. I didn't care what happened to me, as long as I got my job done. I regularly checked in with Lou and Laia, and heard that there was a new uniform clause that had been added. If I had to hazard a guess, it was because Laia wanted a bit of change around the GUARDIANS._

_I don't really remember._

_About a year ago, though, a new race started showing up. No one knew how they came about, and most people were scared of them.. and looked disgusted when one approached them.. probably disturbed, too. But I threw caution to the wind and chatted them up like it was no big deal._

_And then, I got sick again. I knew they weren't infectious, but all the same, I couldn't help but curse my luck in actually _getting sick _sometime after I'd met one of the new race. I was basically the only one who didn't hold it against them that they were different. Being a Human-Beast hybrid kinda made it difficult to be racist, honestly. I mean, what's the point if you're basically half human? You'd kinda be being racist to yourself if you were racist against anyone that wasn't human._

_But I digress._

_The sickness lasted a month, and I'd kept out of the way of Human eyes. When I got a good look at myself when it passed, I freaked._

_That was strike four, and it's the biggest flare that made me even more reckless. I just went gung-ho and killed everything in sight that was an altered native creature._

_And then, during an infiltration into Holtes City, I found out about a RELICS site and contacted Lou about it. After waiting a few hours, I was given clearance to investigate and give the information to the Parum Branch's Lou. And so, after returning myself to my normal appearance, I headed into the RELICS site._


End file.
